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How Many Miles to the Battlefield?
How Many Miles to the Battlefield? is the first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. It was first released in Japan on March 25, 1989 and first aired in North America on November 5, 2001. Synopsis A submarine carrying the Cyclops Team heads through the Arctic sea and launches a series of Hygogg mobile suits. Head of the Cyclops team, Steiner Hardy, who is piloting a Z'Gok E, gives orders to team members Misha, Garcia and Andy. Steiner and Andy head in one direction while Misha and Garcia head in another. Steiner and Andy's mobile suits head to the surface and immediately fire missiles at the Federation base there. Several RGM-79D GM Cold Districts Type rise out of the ground to fight them while the Federation forces rush with readying a rocket for launch. Misha and Garcia's Goggs rise out of the water from other areas and destroy the GMs in their way. Andy heads up on an elevator lift near the exit and spots the Federation's shuttle, with a container being loaded onto it. Steiner orders him to keep it from launching. A GM manages to cover the shuttle, firing at Andy's Hygogg when he tries to shoot at it. Thinking there's no time, Andy goes against Steiner's order and gets out of his hiding spot, getting shot down by the GM. A missile from his Hygogg goes off which nearly hits Steiner's mobile suit and forces both to the ground. Steiner watches as the shuttle blasts off into space. Steiner, holding Andy's body in his arms, screams. The narrative changes to a colony in Side 6. 11-year-old Alfred Izuruha walks to school with his friends and sits through class. Alfred draws a Zaku instead of paying attention and his antics cause his classmate Dorothy to tell on him. Later a lunch Al eats with friends Chay and Telcott. Chay shows Al a Federation forces rank badge he found, telling him his brother is a mobile suit pilot. Dorothy comes by and says he's making it up, claiming the Federation doesn't have any Federation mobile suits. Al and Dorothy argue about the Federation having mobile suits and Al tells Dorothy that the Federation does have mobile suits as his father showed him one. Dorothy asks for proof but Al doesn't have anything. They get into a fight and Chay and Al get in trouble. Later, Al and his friends head home and Chay ask Al if his father is coming home that day. Al rushes home and says hello to his mother. He grabs a camera and heads on a bus to the spaceport where he hopes to take a picture of a Federation mobile suit. Al is told that his father's ship will be coming by in 10 minutes. Al heads into one of the gates and sneaks through the warehouse there with his camera. Al looks at the shuttle inside trying to find a mobile suit but doesn't see any. He is soon found by a worker there and tells him he's just looking for a bathroom. One of the containers below opens, revealing the head of a mobile suit inside. Later, Al eats with his father, seeming rather apathetic. Al's father gives him an envelope to provide to his mother. Al returns home and runs into his neighbor, Christina Mackenzie. Christina tells Al she just got back from Earth. It starts raining out and Al helps Chris gather everything and bring it inside. Chris tells Al she has a government job and got sent here on short notice. Chris goes to get some clothes from her suitcase, revealing a Federation uniform inside and gives Al some other dry clothes to put on. Later, Al's mother expresses worry at not knowing where he was. Al gives her the envelope his father gave him. Al finishes only part of his dinner and goes to his room where he plays a shoot em up video game. Al's mother comes in and he turns everything off. Once she leaves, Al returns to his video game and instead of shooting monsters shoots hospitals and other civilian structures. Al wakes up and Chris notices him from her window. Chris walks with Chris and he complains about school and his teacher. Al heads to school and tells his friends that he wasn't able to find any mobile suits, only various commercial ships. Dorothy brings a series of rank badges she found at the toy store, claiming that where the badge came from. Suddenly there is an explosion nearby. A GM Command appears and is shot down by a Zaku. The Zaku and a Rick Dom II do battle with the GM and much of the area is destroyed. The boys watch in wonder at the battle as another Zaku passes near to them. The Zaku, which is losing energy heads to the nearby forest park. Al runs after the Zaku as it comes down. Al reaches the forest park and finds the downed Zaku. Al approaches the Zaku and records a video of it on his camera. The pilot, a blonde haired man named Bernard Wiseman, stands atop the Gundam and holds a gun at Al. Important Events *'Characters Introduced:' Alfred Izuruha, Andy Strauss, Bernard Wiseman, Christina Mackenzie, Steiner Hardy, Gabriel Ramirez Garcia, Mikhail Kaminsky, Chay, Telcott, Dorothy *'Deceased:' Andy Strauss *'Mecha Introduced:' MSM-07E Z'Gok-E, MSM-03C Hygogg, RGM-79D GM Cold Districts Type, RX-78NT-1 Gundam "Alex" (briefly), RGM-79G GM Command, MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai, MS-09R-2 Rick Dom II. Staff *'Script:' Hiroyuki Yamaga *'Unit Director:' Shinji Takamatsu *'Animation Director:' Tadashi Saito Trivia *This episode marks the first mention of the name of the currency used in the Universal Century. According to Dolores Hayes, toy Federation rank badges cost 1 "cool", this is translated as 1 dollar in the dub, however. *The video game played by Al uses various sound effects from Super Mario World.